Sport Targeting: College football's most hated rule here to stay

Panthers QB Newton doesn't throw for 3rd straight day

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was held out of passing drills for the third straight day while battling soreness in his surgically repaired right shoulder.&nbsp;

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are

FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2016, file photo, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn reacts after Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis is ejected from the game after a targeting call during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Vanderbilt in Auburn, Ala. College football's most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting, which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are adamant that it is a necessary part of the evolution of college football. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2016, file photo, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn looks on as trainers attend to linebacker Darrell Williams while Alabama A&M head coach James Spady reacts to a targeting call during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Auburn, Ala. College football's most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting, which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are adamant that it is a necessary part of the evolution of college football. (AP Photo/Butch Dill, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2016, file photo, Florida's Chris Thompson, top, hits South Carolina's Chris Lammons after he caught a punt during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Gainesville, Fla. Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football's most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting, which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are adamant that it is a necessary part of the evolution of college football.(AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

In these times when so much divides Americans, the targeting penalty brings college football fans together.

Football participation is down in California, now below 100,000 student athletes

The state of California has always been a major talent base for college football, in part because so many California teens play football. That may not be quite as true in the future. For the second-straight year, football participation in California was markedly down in 2016, per the California Interscholastic Federation's annual sports participation study. In 2016, 97,079 California teens played football. In 2015 there were 100,205."I don't think it's a concern but reflects concerns by parents and reflects a national trend in youth sports," Roger Blake, executive director the CIF, told the Los Angeles Times.

To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs. Targeting : College football ' s most hated rule here to Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its

19, 2016, file photo, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn looks on as trainers attend to linebacker Darrell Williams while Alabama A&M head coach James Spady reacts to a targeting call during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Auburn, Ala. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years

Just about all of them hate it.

The targeting foul turns 10 this season, though the real rage against it did not start until 2013 when player ejections became part of the penalty. The rule remains unchanged despite an offseason discussion of whether to eliminate ejections for certain infractions, and the effort to protect players is spreading: The NFL competition committee earlier this year approved automatic ejections for egregious hits to the head.

Targeting can be a difficult call for officials, a split-second evaluation of a high-speed collision. The 15-yard penalty that comes with it can drastically swing a game and losing a player to an ejection is a dramatic step. It does remain a relatively rare call. Even last year, when targeting fouls reached new highs in total (144) and per game (0.17), the number still amounted to only one every 5.83 FBS games played.

Jackson suspects Wake Forest bad-mouthed him

Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson has his suspicions.Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson is a college star. He won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore last season, and he’s a contender (though not an outright favorite) to become the second repeat winner in history this season. Whether he pulls that off or not, Jackson’s among the handful of best college QBs in recent years.

In these times when so much divides Americans, the targeting penalty brings college football fans together. Just about all of them hate it. The targeting foul turns 10 this season, though the real rage against it did not start until 2013 when player ejections became part of the penalty.

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are

For many involved with college football, this seems a small price to pay to attempt to make the game safer - especially as studies on the toll football takes on the body and brain continue to yield worrisome results.

While it is impossible to quantify whether ejecting players has led to a decrease in the rate and number of head and neck injuries, those who play a part in shaping college football's rules say they can see a difference in the way the game is being played.

''We can see clear changes in behavior of the players,'' said Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of officials. ''By that I mean, we see less of players just launching themselves like a missile at a guy's head. We still see it sometimes, but you also see a lot of times when they're coming in lower. They're getting their heads out of the way. They're making contact at the chest or in the side, not going high.''

Another telltale sign: Dangerous hits that in the past would produce high-fives and chest-bumps by players now are no longer cause for celebration.

Manziel interested in becoming college coach

Johnny Manziel has given some thought to what he will do in his life if he never gets a chance to play professional football again.&nbsp;Johnny Manziel has given some thought to what he will do in his life if he never gets a chance to play professional football again. The former Heisman Trophy winner says he would want to work in sports, likely as a coach at the college level.

In these times when so much divides Americans, the targeting penalty brings college football fans together. Just about all of them hate it. The targeting foul turns 10 this season, though the real rage against it did not start until 2013 when player ejections became part of the penalty.

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are adamant that

''Now what you'll see is, you'll see a player make a hit like this and one of the early reactions is he'll grab his helmet and say, `Oh, my goodness what have I done,''' Redding said.

Targeting is not just about trying to curtail concussions. What has been lost in the constant focus on concussions in football is that the targeting rule was put in place as a response to research that showed the number of catastrophic head, neck, spine and brain injuries at all levels of football spiked in the 2000s.

Ron Courson, the head athletic trainer and director of sports medicine at the University of Georgia, was part of the push to add the targeting personal foul back in 2008. Courson said studies have shown that when catastrophic injuries happen in football it is usually the player doing the striking with the crown of the helmet who sustains the injury.

The targeting rule is as much about protecting the player delivering the hit as the one taking it, Courson said. He said tackling now is more about the ''big hits'' than trying to ''wrap up'' a player, and there are other factors, too.

UCLA Quarterback Josh Rosen: “Raise the SAT requirement at Alabama and see what kind of team they have”

UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen takes a shot at Alabama, says football and school don't mix.Which is to say Josh Rosen makes NFL scouts extremely nervous, even though they consider him to be extremely talented, as is explained by Bleacher Report.

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are adamant that

''They are faster and they are stronger and that leads to more violent collisions,'' Courson said.

Since 2013, when the automatic ejection was added, all targeting calls are subject to video review and can be overturned. Last season, replay officials were given the discretion to call obvious targeting fouls that were missed by field officials. There were 28 targeting fouls called in FBS last season by replay officials.

Redding said he believes the reason targeting fouls have increased from 0.04 per game in 2013 to 0.17 last year is because officials have become more comfortable with making the call.

Todd Berry, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, said coaches are adapting and emphasizing tackling techniques that help avoid targeting. Still, there is frustration when players are flagged for hits that seemed impossible to avoid.

''We applaud the nature of why we're doing this,'' Berry said. ''And we want to do everything we can to help and resolve this, but we also need to kind of recognize: Are we asking the kids to do something physically that they're not capable of doing?''

During the offseason, officials decided the occasional hard-luck foul that leads to a player getting ejected was not enough reason to modify a rule designed to take dangerous hits out of the game. The penalty is punitive, but necessary if changing behavior is going to continue, said Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who also heads the football oversight committee.

''As much as some people don't like it, it's making the game safer,'' Bowlsby said. ''I don't believe it's sissified the game. I don't think it's diminished the quality of play. I think it's made the game safer.''

---

Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

---

More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Army-Navy to play at the Meadowlands on 20-year anniversary of 9/11 .
For many of us, the events of September 11th, 2001, seem like they happened just yesterday. But for a generation of college football players, memories of that horrific day are faint.&nbsp;Even then, the two military academies have decided on playing near the site of the old World Trade Center on the 20th anniversary of the attack that killed nearly 3,000 people.

— Share news in the SOC. Networks

Topical videos:

"NFL 2017" — A Bad Lip Reading of the NFL

Tom Brady investigates a theft... and other things that didn't happen Like on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/badlipreading Follow on Twitter!

Similar from the Web

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are

To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs. Targeting : College football ' s most hated rule here to Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its

19, 2016, file photo, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn looks on as trainers attend to linebacker Darrell Williams while Alabama A&M head coach James Spady reacts to a targeting call during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Auburn, Ala. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years

In these times when so much divides Americans, the targeting penalty brings college football fans together. Just about all of them hate it. The targeting foul turns 10 this season, though the real rage against it did not start until 2013 when player ejections became part of the penalty.

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are

In these times when so much divides Americans, the targeting penalty brings college football fans together. Just about all of them hate it. The targeting foul turns 10 this season, though the real rage against it did not start until 2013 when player ejections became part of the penalty.

Targeting : College football ' s most hated rule here to stay | The State - www.thestate.com

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are adamant that

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are

Thompson was penalized for targeting and was ejected from the game. College football ' s most hated rule turns five years old in 2017. Targeting , which penalizes players for hits to the head with ejections, drives coaches, players and especially fans crazy, is here to stay and its supporters are adamant that

It’s been an incredible golf season already and it’s only mid-March. Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was the most exhilarating day on the PGA Tour this year. Rory McIlroy torched Bay Hill to the ground for his first win in 18 months. Tiger Woods looked like the Tiger of old, […]

Orlando Scandrick ‘s free agency stay did not last long, and he’ll be seeing his longtime employer twice next season.&nbsp;Orlando Scandrick‘s free agency stay did not last long, and he’ll be seeing his longtime employer twice next season. The Redskins and a the recently released […]

The ex-wife of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright won't face the death penalty if convicted of killing him more than seven years ago in Tennessee. Shelby County prosecutor Paul Hagerman said before a hearing Monday that Sherra Wright won't not face death if found guilty of first degree […]

Jonathan Toews became the fifth Blackhawk - along with Artem Anisimov, Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane and Nick Schmaltz - to reach 20 goals this season. Toews put in his own rebound a little more than 20 seconds into the third period Saturday to put the Hawks in position to top the Sabres […]

<p>Zach Norvell Jr. had 28 points, Rui Hachimura added 25 and Gonzaga is headed back into the Sweet 16 with a 90-84 victory over Ohio State in the West Region on Saturday night.</p>A spectator during Gonzaga's Final Four run a year ago, the confident, extroverted freshman could be […]

The Knights congratulated the Retrievers for their upset over Virginia, while UMBC congratulated UCF for its "national title.""Amazing what happens when an under “dog” gets a fair shot in an expanded playoff [ ] Congrats on the history, @UMBCAthletics," the Knights […]